Last week I participated in the Watertribe http://www.watertribe.com/ North Carolina Challenge held on Cedar Island. I had my AI and there were three TIs in the race. Overall the Hobie Islands performed very well and came in second and third overall.

Below is Part 1 of my trip:

I had several equipment failures:

1) Mirage drive was not fully latched on one side. When I applied pressure that side popped out and the latch closed it self below not allowing the drive to drop back in. Because of the angle the other side release hit the hex bolt and will not allow that side to be released. I was stuck up the creek without a paddle. To release you need to remove the two very small plastic screws on the handle so that the lever can clear the bolt.

2) The mast would jump out of the mast receiver ~2" when close hauled. I had to luff up to reseat the mast under the latch. This became harder as the race went on. After the race I noticed that two of the four screws holding the metal plate inside the receiver tube had fallen out and the other bolts were backing out. Also the latch screws were very loose allowing the latch to pivot. This prevented the mast from seating fully down and properly engaging in the locked position.

My Hobie dealer is slightly at a loss. Any repair recommendations are appreciated. The mast plate will be the hardest to correct. Locktite might not be the answer since I believe Hobie uses that in the installation...

Great stuff Paul! An Adventure Island on a challenging adventure. That's what it's all about. Thanks for posting the video.Regarding your mast problems, the loose mast receiver plate is a known issue. Loctite is the fix. With mass production problems it may not have had any on it or it may not have had enough. You can usually see the remains of it on the threads of the screws if it was there in the first place.A while ago forum member Max started a checklist site of common issues and fixes. He hasn't kept it up to date but it is a "must" read, (along with the Hobie Tech Notes viewforum.php?f=68) especially if you are doing expeditions: http://www.madyakker.com/hobie-island-checklistLooking forward to Part 2!

Dogslife, congratulations on your first in class and second overall finish despite technical difficulties! It was obviously a grueling race, with only 28 out of 50 starters finishing. My hat's off to all those who entered.

Your video was fun to watch -- excellent view of the race!

BTW, you can make a easy release lock for your C&G units to prevent any future mishaps. The engagement knob mounts on the toggle, is out of the way and effective.

WOW!!!!!! Best editing. Best sound. Best cinematography. Best AI video of the year. Thanks for posting that. Looking forward to part two. What is the blue foam looking stuff on the gunwhales? BTW, wish we had seahorses up here in Maine.

Thank you for the advice. I was aware that the screws in the base plate were a problem an I did check them last month after my last big trip. I will try Loctite and see how long it lasts. I also thought that pouring epoxy down the tube and screwing the plate down would form two bonds. 1) screws would be locked in, never to be taken out again. 2) The epoxy would lock in the base plate leaving very little room to move around if the screws start loosening up. If you remove the base plate and insert it into the base of the mast you will see that there is quite a lot of clearance above the screws. Encased in epoxy the bottom of the mast would break before the plate would come loose...

I am not quite sure how the C&G thumb screw locks engage the mechanism. Also having a extra screw out the side could cause reduced clearance. I found with the AI that I sometimes trip the lever when I bring my foot back. This does not happen on the TI since the locks sit further down.

Close to the end of the race I could see the the lights of the #1 boat. I lost about a hour fixing the Mirage drives and the mast problem forced me to furl the sail slowing me down. I also abandoned my original plan. The boats on the south shore pointed much better because the wind wraps around the point. Next time I am going to make sure that equipment breakdowns do not keep me from the #1 spot...

I have a new problem. After close inspection of the mast I noticed that the furling drum has moved up a 1/2 inch. When i first bought the boat I drew a line on the mast as a reference. It might be time to see my dealer...

The video, the music and the editing are GREAT! I really enjoyed watching your video (actually I did it three times in a row).There's a few things I find very interesting:why the AI and not the TI? I find the TI faster in nearly every situation. Do you think It would have performed better sailing the TI solo?on the other hand, I could see two other TI's. One of them with a smaller sail (genove¿?), taking into account that you were sailing downwind for a while, maybe that boat could have done much better... ¿?

I have done the NCC Course several times. One thing that I learned is that there are always head winds. I own both the TI and AI. In the EC I took a beating pushing my TI into a strong head wind. Now, if I had a crew like you had in you video I would not think twice about taking the TI.

I use a lot of the Mirage drive when I am on the water. This allows me to point higher and go faster. From the video you can see that I blew right by the other boats. When my drive jammed I lost 45 minutes and ended up at the back of all the boats. It took me all day to make up the lost ground. The NCC is also very shallow water with twists and turn through the marshes. The AI weight and maneuverability is a big advantage...

All discussion of equipment failures aside, I think you thrive in these contests because of your considerable sailing skills and strategy. For me, that's the best part of your videos, which I love watching.

You will be disappointed in Part 2. As the weather got worse and night came I took less and less video.

The North Carolina area is very shallow. I spilled last year in the middle of the Core Sound at 2 AM. Then I realized that I could put my feet down and the water was up to my neck. The shallow water actually makes the waves short and steep. ===============================I repaired my mast base plate. The best answer that my Hobie dealer gave me was Loctite the screws. I see some problems with that. The inserts are brass. There is no secondary lock like a lock washer. Once the plate loosens it wears on the screws.

My solution was to use epoxy resin. I poured some resin into the mast receiver. Lowered the plate with all four screws sitting in the holes. Used a piece of old fishing rod cut at the post diameter. This held the plate steady so that I could get all four screws started into the holes. Tightened the screws making sure I got all air bubbles from under the plate. Poured more epoxy until the screws were covered. This repair is meant not to ever come apart again. The steel plate is not a failure point. Next time something breaks it will be the mast receiver or the base of the mast. Benefits: 1) Screws are held in place by the epoxy at the threads and around the head; 2) Water is kept away from the screws and inserts. This prevents bi-metallic corrosion and stainless hairline cracking. 3) Base plate has no room to move. Even if the epoxy breaks from the plastic it still acts as a spacer. 4) I keep my boat on a trailer. To empty the mast receiver I use a small pump. I was always worried that the remaining water can cause unseen corrosion. The smooth epoxy surface allows me to remove more of the water.

That repair sounds reasonable. You can always replace the entire mast receiver later, which is not horribly expensive.

The only thing to look out for is the health of the metal plate, and the pin in particular. If the pin is faulty, cracked or corroding, it can break under the kind of stresses you and I enjoy sailing in.

Here's what it looks like before and after a pin failure.

Whenever folks check their screws, it makes sense to carefully inspect the pin as well.